It’s an Entrepreneurs’ Life

When you think of starting your own company, there’s always a checklist of things that need to be done. The most crucial part of setting up your business is planning the first few steps which in turn sets the foundation for the years to come. Listed below are a few stepping stones that you need to keep in mind before taking the plunge!

Market Research + Competitor Analysis

Before beginning anything, it is important to understand the market and the space that you’re about to occupy. The advantages, the disadvantages and the probable hurdles that you may come across. The best thing about starting from scratch is the fact that you’ve got the entire industry’s experiences to fall back on. But the research doesn’t only stop at market analysis, when you’re starting your business, you must do an in-depth analysis on your competitors as well – what’s their strategy, how have they been doing their marketing and campaigning and what’s the response from their consumers.

The Right Name

The next step is to pick the right name. The name that you give your business is what becomes its identity. It is what everybody else will know you as, so it goes without saying that it should be one that strongly emulates the ethos and the vision of the company that you’re about to start. Make sure the company name you choose is one with an available trademark and Internet domain name (the steps and the websites for this are very easily available on the internet). Once you’ve got yourself the right name, you need to ensure that it is being represented correctly with an apt logo. These two put together will be what the rest of your world recognizes company by.

Word of Mouth PR

Sometimes we are so caught up in the complications of life, that we often forget, that till today, the simplest things have the most amount of impact. When you’re starting your own business, doing initial PR around it essential. These days, with new age PR doing the rounds, we often overlook some of the older and more effective methods of spreading the word. And when it comes to get people to talk about your business, nothing works better than good old fashioned word of mouth PR. It is one of the fastest way to get the word around and has the capability of showing fast if not immediate ROI. It’s all about getting the ball rolling, once you establish that for your business, all you need to do is support it and build on it – and there’s no better way to do this apart from word of mouth PR.

Strong Social Network

Social media has become the pillar of networking and it is great for building a network for your business, promoting a brand and getting yourself out there. Today, a business does not survive if it doesn’t have a strong presence on social media with the backing of a strong social network. If you ask yourself, where do people go to learn more about your business, after the initial phase, the answer has got to be social media. In fact, once you build yourself a sturdy social network, you’ll find that most of the people from there become your brand ambassadors and are the ones who start spreading the values of the company far and wide.

Customer Service

Your customers are one of the most important reasons why your business will thrive. Once you give them something great they’ll keep coming for more and that’s what every business needs. However, the hardest part about pleasing your customers is that it’s not just about showing up, making conversation and being polite, it’s about instilling that level of trust and faith that they keep returning to you for more. It’s about being there for the people who matter the most and forging a relationship with them during the span of their lifetime with your company. It’s about building trust, loyalty, friendship and at the end of the day a relationship with them, which is why planning a strategy for good customer service and support is crucial while starting your own business.

The success or the failure of your business depends entirely on how you conceived it in the first place and what did you do along the way to ensure that your goals were met. Yes, there will be ups and downs, but at the end of the day, you are the master of your own ship and you get to decide the fate of it.